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Embracing Technology Without Stumbling: Email and the Lawyer

THE PROBLEM

CLAIMS PREVENTION

  1. Client Expectations Increase
  1.  Meeting Clients’ Expectation
  • Always acknowledge receipt of the client’s email.  Give the client a realistic timeframe within which you will reply in full. 
  • Do not feel pressured to send a hasty yet incomplete reply. 
  • If you are out of the office, ensure that the out of office assistant is switched on. 
  • Remember to assign someone else within the firm to check your inbox at least twice a day in your absence. 
  • Reply acknowledge receipt of the email to the client. 
  1. Prone To Hastiness
  2.  Formal Email Usage & Procedures
  • Establish a written email policy that also addresses the firm’s policy regarding  storage, retrieval and deletion of emails. 
  1. Failure To Check & Balance
  3.  Check & Balance
  • Check and double-check the contents of the email you are about to send and to whom it is addressed. 
  • Avoid typo errors - Always have your spell check turned on when sending emails. 
  • Scroll down & check the whole message to prevent the inadvertent release of confidential information. 
  1. Breach of Confidentiality
  4.  Exercise  Caution
  • Use  extreme  caution  when  sending  matters  via email and the Internet containing "secrets" which would be harmful to client, in the event of interception or if the intended recipient pool is large and could create secondary harmful situations. 
  1. Generation Gap
  5.  Induction For Seniors
  • Interestingly, ‘e-errors’ are far more prevalent among senior staff than junior staff.  A technology ‘induction course’ for senior staff may be a valuable addition to the firms’ risk management plan. 
  1. Others
  • Circulating inappropriate Internet content
  • Harassment claims arising email ‘joke’
  • Sending a virus to a client
  6.  Contingency Plan
  • Use Good Judgment - Email is a great communication tool, but it is not right for every occasion.